"200 kilometers per hour," I pronounce, gesturing to an animation on the towering screen behind me, a figure in freefall. "That is the terminal velocity of an average human being. And as I'm sure you know, hitting the ground at that speed would be fatal. But, it would seem, humans have a strange fascination with jumping off things. So, we developed technology like the parachute—" Another animation displays on the screen, a figure falling with a parachute. "Decreasing the terminal velocity to around 30 kilometers per hour which, combined with the right landing technique, leads to a safe arrival at the ground for the parachuter."

The audience, a crowd of scientists and reporters filling Lecture Hall 8 at Humboldt University of Berlin, nods, as this is all common knowledge. Turning back to the translucent glass screen, I feel as though I'm looking through my faint reflection, staring past the 57-year-old face with his sardonic expression, focussed features defined by wrinkles, past the figure of the archetypal scientist and into the digital world of formulas and calculations. Screens, to me, have always looked like portals, and right now I wish I could walk straight through this one and come out in my lab, alone, except maybe with my postdoc associate to help me continue with my project.

Instead, I turn back around to face the audience, continuing my explanation with what I hope doesn't look too much like an air of resignation.

"This equation," I communicate with a gesture, "has many variables. Windspeed. The surface area of the parachute. The mass of the parachuter, the position in which he falls, his landing skill. Acceleration due to gravity might even be considered a variable, because this experiment could take place in a gravity-mod chamber. However, there's one factor in particular that is almost always overlooked." I pause for dramatic effect, hoping to somewhat 'liven' the presentation, and I can see audience members looking around at each other, wondering what I'm talking about. "Survivability of the fall."

A murmur of confusion rises in the crowd, and I continue.

"Let's assume gravity is 9.81m/s/s, as is the case on Earth, our hypothetical person weighs 47 kg, falls from a 10 story building, 50-ish meters, without a parachute. Wind speed is negligible. What is her velocity when she hits the ground?" I pause again, though I'm not actually waiting for an answer. "You see, the answer to that question is quite simple. It can be calculated with a basic physics equation. However, determining the answer is not the problem. The problem is, we're asking the wrong question."

I nod to my backstage assistant, and he changes the slide to one with a bold title that reads,

Does she survive?

"You may be wondering where I'm going with all this, so allow me to explain: Last year, I met a woman named Azria Quarta. You may know her as a modern innovator, CEO of Fourth Wall Technologies."

The crowd murmurs, acknowledging that yes, of course they know that name.

"She's also a cyborg," I continue. "You've probably heard her story by now. On a nature hike with her family three years ago, she fell from a cliff face and injured her right leg. Of course, she recovered fully, thanks to the Tokyo Cybernetic Institute replacing her leg with a cybernetic one. Now, not only is she alive and well, but she has full use of her leg. However, a few months ago, Ms. Quarta actually experienced a second accident while with a research team taking air samples from a similar cliff. Again, she recovered completely after the fall, and is now perfectly fine. What's unusual, though, is that, despite incredibly similar circumstances, Ms. Quarta sustained significantly lesser injuries. Her cyborg leg was not damaged at all, and she reported less pain while in the hospital in the days after. Not only that, but her recovery time was faster — her hospital stay, the second time, was only about a third of the duration of the first hospitalization."

The slide changes again, this time displaying a diagram of several cybernetic limbs compared with natural human ones.

"The way I see it, there are two things to notice here. One, Ms. Quarta is perfectly fine now, and has no long-term injuries or pain, and two, she was able to survive the same accident she had as a fully bionatural human, but with less resulting damage. So, it seems to me as though with limited downsides, cybernetics only make humans stronger. So why is a technique as beneficial as this used so rarely?"

I finish my speech, arguing to my audience as to why I believe cybernetic enhancement is the future of humanity. No, not just why I believe it — I must convince them why it is objectively the truth. I'm not the first to take this stance, and of course I spoke of my predecessors in my speech. I talked about Alexis Caliko, an early 2080s bioengineer who did some groundbreaking work in the field. Elon Musk, CEO of several tech-based corporations in the early 21st century, and a strong believer in the possibility of merging humans with machines. I even briefly mentioned Manfred Clynes, the scientist who coined the term "cyborg" way back in the 1960s.

The audience ate it up, scientists discussing with each other and reporters scratching hectically with their styluses on digital clipboards, or gesturing to holoNote displays if the feeds they worked for had the budget to upgrade their tech. After answering a few questions, and ignoring several other, boring ones, I make my way swiftly through the backstage area.

* * *

"Dr. Blayne, that was quite the speech." A reporter appears beside me in the hallway, jogging to keep up with my fast steps. She's holding a clipboard with a real paper and pen, not a hologram or screen, and while she holds it close to her chest, I can still catch a few phrases on the top sheet. Headline ideas?

Controversy Rises Over Dr. Rovart Blayne's Latest Speech

Robotic Enhancement: Is Our Future Cybernetic?

Radical or Revolutionary? Dr. Blayne's Speech On Cybernetic Enhancement Raises New Questions

"Why, thank you, Miss..."

"Nelson." She quickly introduces herself, extending a hand. "Amara Nelson."

"Nice to meet you, Ms Nelson." I shake her hand. "I don't think I heard you during the press questions section."

"Oh, umm, I just wanted to talk to you personally, I suppose. Wouldn't want anyone stealing my quotes," she answers with an awkward laugh.

"So, this wouldn't have anything to do with your not having a press pass, would it?"

She slows down a few steps, her gaze shifting toward the ground.

"Right, umm..."

"Let me guess, you're new at whatever organization you work for, they wouldn't send you with a pass, so you snuck in anyway to hear the speech. And you've been holding that clipboard close to your chest so no one will notice you're not wearing a lanyard."

"OK, you're actually right... About all of that. Sorry. I'm just really interested in your work, and—"

"OK, Ms. Nelson, was it? Tell you what. I'm on my way back to my lab, you can walk with me, ask whatever you want, but that's it. Then I have to get back to work."

The reporter nods, glances down at her clipboard, then asks,

"What originally piqued your interest into the idea of cybernetics as a method of human enhancement?"

"I've read several case studies similar to Ms. Quarta's, and noticed that cybernetic humans experienced above average physical performance in various tasks and sporting activities, as well as minimal injury to their cyborg limbs. Given that patients had recovered completely after their cybernetic restoration surgeries, and regained full use of their limbs, there appeared to be no downside to cybernetic enhancement. I suppose I just wondered, if we can do this, if we're capable of doing such things with technology, why don't we make better use of it? Use it to advance as a species?"

The tape recorder clipped to the corner of Ms. Nelson's clipboard flashes as it records, and she quickly jots down notes on a paper. Why? What possible reason could she have to use real paper? Is she a technophobe, maybe? Odd that she'd take an interest in my work if that were the case.

"Do you wish to test your theory, Doctor? Animal experimentation, human trials...?"

"Of course, why, that's the next step in scientific discovery. My team has requested permission from the North American Republic's minister of biotechnical engineering and the adjoining ethics committee to begin animal trials, and we're expecting a response soon. Human trials, of course, are much more difficult, with all the red tape to get through. My legal team has been working on it, however, and I have high hopes that this could be a possibility in the future."

"If you were to proceed with these trials, what would be involved? How would you choose test subjects, what would the requirements be?"

"You certainly ask interesting questions, Ms. Nelson," I wonder aloud.

"Hmm, and what might be the answer to this one, Doctor?" She asks, misinterpreting my comment as an attempt to avoid the question.

"Well, I'm interested in testing the strengths or abilities of cybernetic humans compared to those of natural ones. This would involve both cyborg and bionat test groups, obviously. As for specific requirements, subjects that are over 30% cybernetic would be ideal, but it would all depend on the specific situation, the specific experiment being conducted."

"As I'm sure you're aware, there have been several ethical issues raised regarding your ideas on this topic. How do you respond to these concerns?"

"I'm aware of them, Ms. Nelson, but frankly, I find them quite inane."

"Could you elaborate, please?"

"Anyone who has an ethical issue with my studies is either desperate for controversy or simply naïve. Science is not, and has never been, a morally black-and-white process. Just think; without neural experimentation, we wouldn't have figured out how to cure Alzheimer's in 2087. Without animal testing, we wouldn't even have developed a polio vaccine back in the 20th century. Science requires moral compromises, and to suggest otherwise is, well, rather puerile."

I stop in front of the entrance to my laboratory, and the reporter stands ardently between me and the door.

"One final question, Dr. Blayne. You say the traits required of a test subject are very specific — do you have any specific individuals in mind for testing?"

"I'm afraid, Ms. Nelson, I must get back to work."

The strange woman lingers, uncertain and stationary, in her position in the hallway for a few seconds before nodding with a look of mixed disappointment and acceptance. She thanks me for my answers and reluctantly leaves, scratching with her real pencil on her real paper on her real clipboard as she walks down the hall. Only when I'm sure she's out of earshot, I whisper, under my breath, an answer to her question.

"Yes."

A/N: Hi :) What do you think of the story so far? Sorry, this chapter is a little short, I know, they'll be longer in the future.

- Tressa